Agenda item

The Area Council Manager introduced the item drawing attention to Part A of the report, which provided an overview of performance.  It was noted that future reports would show cumulative contract figures, in addition to those relating to the quarter.

The contract with Kingdom Security was discussed and it was noted that the contact had only received an ‘amber’ rating for ‘satisfactory quarterly monitoring report and contract management meeting’, as a number of outstanding actions had not been completed.  However, these had subsequently been actioned.

Members noted the numbers of Fixed Penalty Notices issued for dog fouling and littering, and the numbers of Penalty Charge Notices for parking.  The numbers of the latter had increased significantly as a result of responding to concerns expressed by residents, and also responding to a number of accidents in the area.

The meeting noted the end of year balance for 2016/17 in relation to Fixed Penalty Notices, which stood at £13,173.

Members then discussed the performance of the Private Sector Housing Enforcement SLA.  It was noted that 244 requests for service had been received within the quarter.  71 reports of waste on premises had been received and investigated. 63 occupiers responded, with 8 receiving a CPN warning, with only 3 cases leading to a Community Protection Notice being issued.

A number of Members commented on the visibility of officers and this had been discussed with the service.  Members recognised the changes in the service, and the need to continue to report areas of concern through the necessary channels.

The meeting was made aware of a request from the media to film in the area, with the focus being fly tipping and any associated enforcement.  Based on the emphasis of previous exposure of the area by the media, Members did not wish to support this.

The original contract with Twiggs Grounds Maintenance concluded 31^st March, 2017, and within the quarter January – March 2017 Twiggs had provided 4 work placements, held 8 social action events, and recruited 44 volunteers. In addition the organisation had engaged with 9 local businesses, conducted 819 litter picks, and had worked with many of the local schools.

An update was provided in relation to the Dearne Development Fund. In 2016/17, 14 applications were considered, with 11 being successful. 6 of the organisations had match funded their applications.  Awards had been granted to the value of £68,172.50.

Members were made aware of the performance of DIAL, who had delivered 13 sessions within the quarter, to 77 residents.  In the main, they had assisted residents within the 41-55 age group, and those who were long term sick.

Citizen’s Advice Bureau services continued to be well used with 61 residents accessing the service. 388 different enquiry issues had been dealt with in the quarter.  Together both advice services had seen a total of 390 people to date, with an associated benefit gain of £393,156 and £113,461 of debt managed.

Members noted that Reds in the Community were only 9 weeks in to the programme but had worked with 86 young people.

The Alzheimer’s Society programme had commenced and 9 carers had attended.  Feedback had been extremely positive, and the organisation had been successful in applying for external funding and would be replicating the programme elsewhere.

Members noted that the Goldthorpe Development Group had received funding for 12 events during 2017, but with less finance than previously, with a view to the project becoming sustainable in the longer term.  99 people had attended the event in March, with 9 people volunteering, and 1 new volunteer.

The website for Goldthorpe Town centre, funded by the Dearne Development Fund, was now operational. A database of businesses in the area had been developed, to be used for communication and promotion, and it was hoped that the work of the group would feed into the Principal Towns Programme.  Over 60 volunteer hours had been given so far.

Members noted the statistics associated with the hOurbank, now that the Dearne Development Funding for the project had come to an end. With 14 people engaged every week on average, 5203 hours has been banked by members from the inception of the project to 31^st December, 2016.

The meeting briefly discussed the ‘Who is your neighbour’ scheme, and it was agreed that this is put on an agenda of a future meeting.

RESOLVED:-

(i)            that the report be noted; and

(ii)          thanks be given to the Dearne Area Team for their continued hard work which had helped contribute to the successes contained within the report.